A/N: Here comes the second installment - regret and missed chances. I hope you'll enjoy it.

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Words Unspoken


"This is crap," Katie Bell murmured to herself, whilst brooding over a new Quidditch manoeuvre she'd designed. She really wanted to test it on the practice squad, but felt it still needed some refining on.

Without warning, her fireplace came to life. Shrouded in green flames, her best friend stumbled out of it. Angelina Johnson's face was wet with tears and her eyes were swollen and puffy.

Instantly, Katie leapt to her feet.

"I can't do this anymore!" Angelina choked out before she dissolved into sobs right in front of Katie. "I – I j-just can't."

"Shh." Katie tried to calm her and gently pushed her down on the sofa. "What happened?"

Another heartbreaking sob erupted from Angelina's chest, and she curled herself around one of Katie's pillows. "N-nothing."

As it clearly wasn't 'nothing', Katie put an arm around Angelina and let her cry until her racking sobs subsided into quiet sniffles. Eventually, she summoned a handkerchief, pressed it into Angelina's shaking hands, and then directed her wand at the kettle. "Better now?" she asked cautiously, scrutinising her friend. "I tell you what: I'll make some tea and then you'll tell me what's bothering you. Sound fair?"

Choking back another sob, Angelina nodded, her eyes still bright with tears. Quickly, Katie got up and prepared two cups of tea. When she returned, the steaming mugs in hand, Angelina had regained her composure and sat silently on the sofa, still hugging the pillow. With a wan smile, she accepted the tea and blew on it, before taking a sip. Katie noticed that she didn't meet her eye.

"Ange," she said gently and sat down next to her.

"It's n –"

"Don't tell me it's nothing. It didn't look like 'nothing'!" Katie interrupted her.

Finally, Angelina looked up. "I met Ginny today."

A smile spread on Katie's face. "Oh, that's great," she started, but then she saw the expression on her friend's face. "Isn't it?"

"She invited me to the Sunday dinner," Angelina added tonelessly.

Katie's lips formed a silent oh, but she didn't really know what to say. She herself had been avoiding going there since … the funeral. She just couldn't handle the built up sadness in the house. It always took her breath away.

"I didn't know what to say," Angelina admitted after a long silence. "I practically fled from the shop and came straight here. I can't go, Katie. I can't. I can't do any of this anymore." Her hands clenched around the tea cup. "I had it all mapped out, you know." She glanced at Katie, who nodded slightly. She knew what Angelina was talking about. She, too, had thought her life would take a different direction. And then, the war had happened.

"I thought I'd have finished my apprenticeship at the tax consultant by now. I thought I'd be working in the joke shop, doing the books, since the twins are hopeless in bookkeeping." A shadow of a smile flickered across her face, but then it vanished and all that was left was sadness. "I thought Fred and I …" Her voice gave in, and she quickly took a sip of her tea.

"I know," Katie whispered. "I still can't believe he's gone. Sometimes, when I see George working in shop, I think Fred's probably checking the storage or has Fred overslept today? And then, I could kick myself for it."

Angelina used the hem of her shirt to wipe her face. "I can't do it anymore," she repeated. "I can't still think about him every day. I can't live with this grief. And I can't see George." She pleadingly looked at Katie, but her friend understood. The twins were nearly identical, after all.

"It's been almost a year!" Angelina added. "And I can't live my life like this anymore. I can't keep on regretting all things that could've been, but …" Her voice trailed away into nothing.

Katie opened her mouth, but then closed it again. Words failed her. There was nothing she could say to comfort her friend. Angelina and Fred had been a couple the last months before the battle. Secret meetings in remote places, barely any contact in between. She knew it had been hell for her friend. There had been many evenings spent in Katie's flat, silently drinking tea and hoping their friends were still alive.

At least, she'd had a few months, a few days, a few hours of bliss, moments of happiness and love. Katie and George never had got that far.

She told herself every day that it was better this way because otherwise she might hurt as much as Angelina. George wouldn't let her in. Their relationship would have ended one way or another. At least, now they were still friends – sort of. Mainly it was Katie visiting George in the shop because she couldn't stay away, because she couldn't see him suffer without trying to help.

She knew George cared for her, may have even loved her at one point, but it was all too late now.

"I never told him," Angelina's voice cut through the silence like a knife and Katie's head snapped up. Angelina didn't meet her gaze. She stared out the window, her eyes lingering in the past. "It's what I regret most, never telling him that I loved him. I loved him so much, and he died without ever knowing."

Suddenly, Angelina's dark eyes focused and she took Katie's hand. "Don't make the same mistake."

Katie opened her mouth to protest, "What –?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Angelina's voice was surprisingly firm and her grip tight.

Feverishly, Katie shook her head. "You don't understand. George, he doesn't want me …" Her voice broke.

"Does it matter?" Angelina countered. "I'll wish for the rest of my life that I'd have told him. I can't go until I know that you won't make the same mistake."

"Go? Go where?" Katie's mind was racing.

Angelina pressed her lips together. "I wasn't planning on telling you yet. I meant what I said before … this isn't my life anymore. I feel so numb, going through the motions." She shook her head. "I'm leaving, Katie. I'm moving to New Zealand."

Katie's mouth fell open, and it took a surprising amount of effort to close it again. "You're leaving me?" Realising how that had sounded, she pulled herself together and added, "I mean, if that's what you want."

"I'm not leaving you. I'm just leaving," Angelina replied silently.

Katie emptied her cup and put it down on the table. The clack echoed though the room. "How long …?"

"Not long," Angelina said quickly, sounding apologetic. "I've been thinking about it for weeks, making plans. But the decision fell today. I realised … I realised a great many things." She pressed Katie's hand. "Don't be mad at me."

"I'm not," Katie answered automatically. Her mind was still trying to process the news. Where would she go if Angelina was gone? To whom could she pour her heart out? What should she do without her best friend to counsel her?

But she had seen how Angelina had tried over and over again to move on but failed every time. She had seen how she hurt, and grieved, and fought, and died a little every day. If it felt right for her to go, it was what she should do. Katie understood that Fred's death ate Angelina up inside, that it would destroy her if she'd let it.

"It's okay," she whispered finally. "You should go. New Zealand will be good for you." She tried to smile but failed miserably.

"Thank you." Tears glimmered in Angelina's eyes when she bent forward to hug her. Katie, too, felt tears sting in her eyes, and she quickly freed herself.

"This feels like goodbye," she said huskily.

"It's not. I won't be going for a few weeks," Angelina murmured, looking down at her empty cup. "But I meant what I said earlier. Go to George. Tell him. Kiss him senseless. You'll regret it if you don't. Take it from someone who knows."

"A few weeks," Katie repeated hollowly. A few weeks and Angelina would be gone.

Sensing her despair, Angelina murmured softly, "I won't be gone forever. You can visit me, or Floo call, or owl me. It really isn't that complicated anymore."

Katie nodded blankly. "I know." Still, Angelina wouldn't be here. So this was goodbye. She needed to let Angelina go, and she needed to let George go. There was no future for them. But Angelina had a future, a whole new world full of opportunities.

"I hope you'll find what you're looking for," Katie said sincerely, looking Angelina straight in the eyes. She wished her only the best.

Angelina knew that. She smiled faintly at her, and Katie had the feeling she wanted to say something, but Katie didn't want to hear it. She didn't want to hear about George anymore.

So she quickly asked, "Do you already know where you'll live and what you'll do?"

Angelina smile grew broader, and she started to explain her plans. Katie tried very hard to listen and to make helpful remarks, but a part of her didn't want to know about it. A part of her wanted to deny that Angelina would really be leaving soon.

So when the other girl had left, after hours of planning and giving advice, Katie couldn't move. She knew how the numbness felt that Angelina had described. She drew her knees to her chest and hugged them, trying to not fall into pieces. But it was all too much. She didn't want Angelina to leave. She didn't want Fred to be dead. She didn't want George to shut her out. It felt like everyone had left her. And a part of her regretted letting Angelina go, and not saving Fred, and, most of all, loving George.

However, she couldn't let the war break her or the other side would have won. She really needed to move on, just like Angelina. There was just one thing she needed to do before that.

She had to tell George.


*Written for the Houses Competition, Round 7*

House: Ravenclaw

Category: Short

Prompt: "This feels like goodbye,"

W/C: 1, 692


Next up: Telling George...

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